AMP: Artists' Meeting Place and Resource Collective

Simply put: A Zeitgeist Campaign is the act of injecting a new thought process into the existing collective consciousness.

It may be something that’s already there and needs to be brought to the surface or a different way of looking at something that is actively in the zeitgeist and offer a new perspective of it. The intent being the ripple effect of thoughts or actions that can be gained from a simple discussion on how we look at and talk about issues.

For example: I am still marveling at the idea of young women wearing over sized sunglasses. As with anything that is in the current fashion trend there are people who select the thing, in this case oversized sunglasses, that fit their specific type and style. The inevitable fallout of fashion of course being that there will always be the contingent that tries too hard and selects anything that fits the trend conceptually, even if it doesn’t fit their specific body type or style. Oversized sunglasses are certainly not the exception. I know you’ve all seen it. You know what I’m talking about. It looks silly. Not terrible, but just silly.

This is not a critique on people and their fashion sense. There are plenty of blogs that cover that. I am merely curious at how we look at these things. How we choose to view them.

When I was a youth there were two specific reasons why women wore oversized sunglasses: 1) Because the woman was drunk the night before and had a hangover. Or 2) Because the woman was the victim of physical abuse and is covering a black eye.

Now, that said, fashion is fashion and trends come and go. The reasons for the fluidity of fashion will never fully be understood even by those who’s job it is to predict it. It’s just fluid and what works works. However, here is the proposed Zeitgeist Campaign:

I put forth the idea that the current movement of oversized sunglasses on women is in truth a silent protest against the physical abuse of women. Every time I see a young lady in oversized glasses I think about the horrors of physical abuse, and how awful and trapped some women feel in that sort of relationship. I want to donate money to homes for battered women. I want to support pro-bono therapy for anyone involved in this sort of situation. In short: the idea of battered and abused women is entered into my consciousness whenever I see a woman wearing oversized sunglasses (albeit more so when they stand out by looking silly).

Reality is fluid. Our beliefs are ours by choice. We can have a hand in changing the popular consciousness one person at a time. Thoughts are like those viral videos that you e-mail your friends. Try it with this. Share this notion of battered women and the silent protest being waged via oversized sunglasses. I dare you not to.